Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and internet video calling provide a means of communication using the Internet. These technology solutions may provide additional communication features or cost savings. For example, VOIP facilitates long distance and international communication typically at a lower cost than conventional phone lines or cellular phone calls. Meanwhile, video chats provide a more intimate communication session between connected users because images of facial expressions are transmitted with an audio stream of a conversation. Because of the benefits, Internet-based communication has become increasingly popular.
Internet-based, real-time communication has also become increasingly popular because these services are more accessible, and in many situations, these services are provided for no additional fee. For example, popular social networking websites, such as Google+ and Facebook, have begun to implement these communication services for free. FIG. 1-3 illustrate how a conventional Facebook video call is initiated. As shown in FIG. 1, a social network webpage for Facebook user “Nathan” 101 is illustrated, which may include a plurality of social networking posts in a “news feed” area 102. A chat friends list 104 appears on the right side of the screen. The chat friends list 104 lists all of Nathan's 101 friends who are currently signed into Facebook and available to chat. Some friends, such as “Cassie” 106, are signed into Facebook through a mobile device. Friends available through a mobile device may not be interacting with the Facebook mobile application, but Facebook servers can send a message to that user's mobile device if Nathan 101 attempts to chat with a user available through the mobile device. Other friends, such as Arun 108, are signed into Facebook and immediately available to chat, as shown by the green dot 110 adjacent to Arun's 108 name.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, if Nathan 201 decides to begin a conversation with Arun 208, Nathan 201 clicks on Arun's 208 name in the chat friends list 204, and a chat window 202 appears at the bottom of the screen. Using the chat window 202, Nathan 201 can chat with Arun 208 through conventional instant messaging. The right side of the chat window title bar 203 displays a start video call button 204. If Nathan 201 presses the start video call button 204, a message is sent to Arun 208 notifying him of Nathan's 201 request to video chat. If Arun 208 accepts Nathan's 201 invitation to video chat, Facebook initiates a connection, and Nathan 201 and Arun 208 may engage in a video conversation.
After clicking the start video call button 204, as shown in FIG. 3, a video chat window 302 appears in the middle of the screen. The video chat window 302 is displayed over the normal social networking information displayed on the social network's website.
Other social network's video chat applications may behave differently than the exemplary Facebook implementation. For example, Google+ creates a unique URL for an initiated Google Hangout and opens Google Hangout in a new internet browser window. Some services may implement their own software to connect video calls, such as Skype, rather than using a web-based application.
While two or more people converse through a video chat, the words said and the topics discussed remain private to the people connected to the video chat. In some situations, privacy is important, especially if video chat participants are discussing confidential or privileged information. However, in other situations, people may desire to be more public and social about their conversation. Currently, social networks, such as Facebook and Google+, fail to make information about the video conversation public. Social networks leave parties not receiving an invitation to the video conversation unaware of the existence of the video chat and the topics of conversation during the video chat.
Further, some users who receive an invitation to video chat may like to join a conversation, but only if the topic of conversation is interesting. Nevertheless, there is no means for the user deciding whether to join to know what the topic of conversation is without first joining the conversation and listening to what is being said. This limitation may cause some users to miss out on interesting conversations.
As a result, video chat services fail to notify users who are not participants to a video conversation of the existence of the conversation and the topics of conversation. As a result, there is a need to notify users of the existence of a video conversation and the topics discussed in the video conversation